System and method for passive building information discovery

ABSTRACT

A system and method is provided that facilitates passive building information discovery. The system may include a processor configured to track positions in a building of portable devices over time and based thereon determine characteristics of the building including locations in the building where at least some of the portable device are unauthorized, based on communications received from radio-frequency (RF) sensors mounted in spaced-apart relation across the building. Such communications may include information detected by the RF sensors from RF signals from the portable devices that uniquely identify each portable device. The processor may be configured to determine when at least one of the portable devices is detected via a communication from at least one of the RF sensors at a determined unauthorized location in the building, and responsive thereto provide at least one notification that indicates that the at least one portable device was detected at the unauthorized location.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is directed, in general, to building technologysuch as systems that control and monitor buildings, and in particular tobuilding security systems including access control systems forelectrically locked doors, surveillance systems, and alarm systems(collectively referred to herein as building systems).

BACKGROUND

Building systems may include surveillance systems capable of monitoringthe activates of people. Such building systems may benefit fromimprovements.

SUMMARY

Variously disclosed embodiments include data processing systems andmethods that may be used to facilitate passive building informationdiscovery. In one example, a system may comprise at least one processorconfigured to track positions in a building of a plurality of portabledevices over time and based thereon determine characteristics of thebuilding including locations in the building where at least some of theportable device are unauthorized, based on communications received froma plurality of radio-frequency (RF) sensors mounted in spaced-apartrelation across the building, which communications include informationdetected by the RF sensors from RF signals from the portable devicesthat uniquely identify each portable device. In addition the at leastone processor may be configured to determine when at least one of theportable devices is detected via a communication from at least one ofthe RF sensors at a determined unauthorized location in the building,and responsive thereto provide at least one notification that indicatesthat the at least one portable device was detected at the unauthorizedlocation.

In another example, a method for passive building information discoverymay comprise carrying out a plurality of acts through operation of atleast one processor. Such acts may include receiving communications froma plurality of radio-frequency (RF) sensors mounted in spaced-apartrelation across a building, which communications include informationdetected by the RF sensors from RF signals from a plurality of portabledevices that uniquely identify each portable device. In addition theacts may include tracking positions in the building of the portabledevices over time, based on the received communications. Further theacts may include determining characteristics of the building includinglocations in the building where at least some of the portable device areunauthorized, based on the tracked positions of the portable devices.Also the acts may include determining that at least one of the portabledevices is detected via a communication from at least one of the RFsensors at a determined unauthorized location in the building. Inaddition, the acts may include providing at least one notification thatindicates that the at least one portable device was detected at theunauthorized location.

A further example may include non-transitory computer readable mediumencoded with executable instructions (such as a software component on astorage device) that when executed, causes at least one processor tocarry out this described method.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the technical features of thepresent disclosure so that those skilled in the art may betterunderstand the detailed description that follows. Additional featuresand advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter that formthe subject of the claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthey may readily use the conception and the specific embodimentsdisclosed as a basis for modifying or designing other structures forcarrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Those skilledin the art will also realize that such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure in its broadest form.

Also, before undertaking the Detailed Description below, it should beunderstood that various definitions for certain words and phrases areprovided throughout this patent document, and those of ordinary skill inthe art will understand that such definitions apply in many, if notmost, instances to prior as well as future uses of such defined wordsand phrases. While some terms may include a wide variety of embodiments,the appended claims may expressly limit these terms to specificembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an example system thatfacilitates passive building information discovery.

FIGS. 2-5 schematically illustrate several example sceneries by whichthe described system may be configured to dynamically determinelocations in a building where at least some portable device areunauthorized.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example methodology thatfacilitates passive building information discovery.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system in whichan embodiment may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various technologies that pertain to systems and methods that facilitatepassive building information discovery will now be described withreference to the drawings, where like reference numerals represent likeelements throughout. The drawings discussed below, and the variousembodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure inthis patent document are by way of illustration only and should not beconstrued in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilledin the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosuremay be implemented in any suitably arranged apparatus. It is to beunderstood that functionality that is described as being carried out bycertain system elements may be performed by multiple elements.Similarly, for instance, an element may be configured to performfunctionality that is described as being carried out by multipleelements. The numerous innovative teachings of the present applicationwill be described with reference to exemplary non-limiting embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 1, an example data processing system 100 isillustrated that facilitates passive building information discovery. Thesystem 100 may include at least one processor 102 that is configured toexecute at least one application software component 106 from a memory104 accessed by the processor. The application software component may beconfigured (i.e., programmed) to cause the processor to carry outvarious acts and functions described herein. For example, the describedapplication software component 106 may include and/or correspond to oneor more components of a surveillance software application that isconfigured to dynamically determine information regarding a building andstore the building information in a data store 108 such as a database,hard drive, SSD, memory card or other type of device that storesnon-volatile data.

The system may also include at least one input device 110 (e.g.,keyboard, mouse, touch screen) and at least one display device 112(e.g., display screen, monitor, touch screen). The input device mayfacilitate interaction with a graphical user interface (GUI) 114displayed by the display device. Such a GUI may provide menus, buttons,a workspace, edit boxes, and/or any other user interface that ismanipulated with inputs through the input device for use withconfiguring the application software component described herein. In anexample embodiment, the application software component may be configuredto display information through the GUI 114 regarding a building that isbeing monitored by the system. Such information, for example, mayinclude a visual representation 126 of the building 128 as well asinformation determined by the system regarding the building.

It should be understood that as used herein, a building corresponds toany structure capable of including people therein and may correspond toa/an office building, school, factory, hospital, mall, airport terminal,stadium, or dormitory (which are typically built on land), as well asstructures such as a cruise ship, oil platform, or naval vessel (whichare supported by water), or any other type of structure in which peoplemove around inside or thereon.

In an example embodiment, the system may include a plurality of radiofrequency (RF) sensors 116. Such sensors may be placed in spaced-apartlocations across the building and may be configured to detect one ormore types of RF signals and communicate the detection of such RFsignals to the processor 102. The RF sensors may have a form factor thatincludes an antenna 118 capable of receiving RF signals as well as acommunication interface 120 capable of communicating the detection of RFsignals to the processor 102 through wires or wirelessly (e.g., via RFsignals as well). It should be appreciated that such RF sensors mayinclude a controller circuit 122 that enables the detected RF signals tobe communicated via the communication interface as well as a battery 124and/or an external power input.

Example RF sensors may be configured to detect Bluetooth signals (e.g.,compliant with IEEE 802.15.1 standards), WiFi signals (e.g., compliantwith IEEE 802.11 standards), or any other type of RF signals that may beoutputted by electronic portable devices carried by people in abuilding. Examples of portable devices that may output RF signalscapable of being detected by the RF sensors 116 may include: mobilephones, tablets, media players, laptops, headsets, headphones, earbuds,glasses, watches, activity trackers, or any other wireless-enabledwearable or portable technology devices.

A particular example of RF signals that may be detected by the RFsensors may include Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signals generated byactivity trackers, for example, (e.g., the Fitbit Tacker produced byFitbit Inc. of San Francisco, Calif.). Activity trackers are wearabledevices that may measure a number of steps walked, heart rate, caloriesburned, temperature, or other information about the body or activity ofthe person wearing the device. Activity trackers may include aprocessor, a display screen, and various sensors that are mounted to astrap and/or band capable of being worn around the wrist of a human.However, activity trackers may have other form factors such as beingconfigured as or part of a watch, necklace, armband, earbuds andheadphones.

Activity trackers (or other portable devices) may use BLE (branded asBluetooth Smart) or other RF signals to communicate with anotherelectronic device such as a mobile phone or computer. However, it shouldbe appreciated that activity trackers (or other portable devices) mayuse other RF signals (such as WiFi) to wirelessly communicate with otherdevices and/or networks.

In addition, it should be appreciated that portable devices such asmobile phones (as well as some laptops and tablets) may be configuredwith cellular radios capable of communicating RF signals with celltowers. Thus, in some examples the RF sensors 116 may be configured todetect cellular RF signals outputted by portable devices.

In example embodiments, the described system 100 may be configured todetermination information regarding a building based on the RF signalsdetected by portable devices moving around the building. For example, asillustrated in the visual representation 126 of an example building 128,the various, rooms 130, 132, hall ways, and/or other locations in thebuilding may include one or more RF sensors 134, 136, 138, 140 mountedtherein and/or adjacent thereto. As people wearing or holding portabledevices 142, 144 move around the building, the RF signals from thesedevices may be detected by one or more of the RF sensors.

In this example, the visual representation 126 of the building 128includes a visual representation of the RF sensors and portable devices.However, it should be appreciated that alternative embodiments may notprovide a visual representation of the RF sensors or portable devices.

In example embodiments, the RF sensors may be capable of determining theRF power level of the RF signals. Also, in example embodiments, the RFsensors may be capable of determining information in the RF signals thatis unique to each portable device. For example, portable devices mayinclude a media access control (MAC) address, or other data that isusable to uniquely identify each device. In some embodiments, suchportable devices may continuously or periodically output the RF signalwith such a unique identifier. However, it should be appreciated that inother embodiments, the RF sensor may be configured to output a signalthat triggers the portable devices to output their respective RF signalwith their unique identifier.

The determined RF power level and unique identifiers for detected RFsignals may be communicated by the RF sensors to the processor for useby the processor to track the movement of individual portable devicesacross the building. For example, the processor may be configured viathe application software component 106 to use triangulation algorithmsbased on the relative power levels from three or more RF sensorsdetecting signals with the same unique identifier, to determine theposition and movement of the portable device with that uniqueidentifier.

To assist in the determination of the position and movement of portabledevices, in example embodiments, the at least one processor 102 may beconfigured with information (e.g., stored in the data store 108) thatspecifies the location of each RF sensor in the building. The GUI of theapplication software component may enable such positions to be inputtedby a user for example. However, it should be appreciated that the atleast one processor 102 may be configured to determine the generalrelative locations of the RF sensors overtime based on correlationscarried out on RF power levels and unique identifiers for many differentportable devices moving across the building over time. Further, based onsuch correlations and the various places and paths that individualportable dives are detected, the at least one processor may beconfigured to determine a map of the placement of rooms and paths in thebuilding. In an example embodiment, the visual representation 126 of thebuilding 128 may be based on such a determined map. However, it shouldbe appreciated that the visual representation of the building mayalternatively or in addition be based on a previously prepared floorplan (e.g., an image file) of the building accessed by the processorfrom the data store 108.

It should be appreciated that floor plans of buildings may indicate thelocations of rooms, hallways and other locations in a building, butoften do not provide information as to which individual people are orare/not permitted to access different locations. For example, one ormore rooms may have doors that are configured with electronic locks thatare unlocked via an authorized card, badge or other token. Such rooms,or other locations secured via a lock may not be marked on a floor planof a building. However, the location of such locked rooms or otherlocations may be useful for purposes by surveillance systems.

In an example embodiment of the described system 100, the processor 102may be configured to track positions in the building 128 of a pluralityof portable devices 142, 144 over time and responsive thereto determinecharacteristics of the building including locations in the buildingwhere at least some of the portable devices are unauthorized. Suchlocations, for example, may include a room or other area that is securedvia a locked door, gate, turn style, or other lockable structure thatrestricts access to the location in the building to people havingappropriate access permissions.

The at least one processor may be configured to determine the locationsin the building where at least some of the portable devices areunauthorized based on communications received from the plurality of RFsensors mounted in spaced-apart relation across the building. Suchcommunications include information detected by the RF sensors from RFsignals from the portable devices that uniquely identify each portabledevice such as the MAC address of the portable device.

At least some of the examples described here are based on the insightthat at least some portable devices are of a type that is personal to aparticular user (i.e., is not shared among users). For example, aportable device in the form of an activity tracker may typically be wornby a single user each day for the usable life of the portable device.Based on where the user goes and does not go to in a building (viatracking the user's portable device over time) the at least oneprocessor may be configured to determine where the user's portabledevice is or is not authorized to go in the building.

In this example, the at least one processor may be configured to provideat least one notification that indicates that the portable device wasdetected at an unauthorized location, based on a determination that theportable device is detected (via a communication from at least one ofthe RF sensors) at the determined unauthorized location in the buildingfor that portable device.

In example embodiments, such a notification may correspond to storing alog of possible unauthorized accesses in the data store 108. The GUI 114may be configured to enable the log to be displayed through the displaydevice in order for security personnel to be informed of locations inthe building which may require enhanced surveillance (e.g., via theaddition of a security guard, video camera or other measure which bettercontrols access to the unauthorized location).

In another example, the notification provided may correspond to acommunication which triggers an alarm. Such an alarm, for example, maycorresponds to activation of an alarm device (146) (e.g., a siren and/orflashing light) at the unauthorized location and/or in another locationwhich notifies the user with the detected portable device, and/orsecurity personnel that the location has been accessed by someone thatmay not be authorized to access the location.

In a further example, the notification may be provided via a wiredand/or wireless network communication to a monitoring service (e.g., aserver) which is configured to handle such notifications by alertingsecurity personnel and/or law enforcement.

Also, in another example, the notification may be provided via shortmessage service (SMS) text messages, instant message, e-mail, or otherelectronic communication to one or more mobile phones or otherelectronic device of individuals responsive for handing security for thebuilding.

In addition, in another example the notification may be provided toanother computing system, processor, server, and/or software applicationthat is responsive to handing securing notifications. An example of asurveillance software application that may be adapted to include thedescribed application software component 106 and carry out thefunctionality described herein, or may be adapted to receive thedescribed notification, may include Surveillance SitelQ Analytics, whichis produced by Siemens Switzerland Ltd, of Zug Switzerland. However, itshould be appreciated that the systems and methods described herein maybe used in or with other surveillance systems and/or any other type ofsystem that detects and/or handles unauthorized access to locations in abuilding.

As discussed previously, it should be appreciated that the described RFsensors may be operative to detect one or more different types of RFsignals. For example, each RF sensor may detect more than one type of RFsignal and/or the system may include different types of RF sensors eachdedicated to detecting one or more different types of RF signals. Also,it should be understood that different types of RF signals maycorrelated to portable devices that are in general more personal to auser that portable devices that use other types of RF signals. Forexample, portable devices that use BLE signals (such as an activitymonitor) may tend to be more personal to a user than portable devicesthat communicate WiFi signals (which may be more easily shared amongusers, and or which may not be continuous worn/carried by a user). Thus,the example system may be configured to determine trends as to whichlocations in a building are unauthorized for particular portabledevices, taking into account the type of RF signals being detected. Forexample, the processor may be configured to determine such trends bytaking into account that a BLE device may have a higher probability ofproviding accurate trends as to the location of unauthorized locationsthan WiFi devices. Also, in some embodiments, the described examples maybe configured to only or primarily use BLE signals, based on the morepersonal nature of BLE enabled devices (e.g., activity monitors).

FIGS. 2-5 schematically illustrate several example sceneries by whichthe described system may be configured to dynamically determinelocations in a building where at least some portable device areunauthorized and detect when a possible unauthorized access has occurredat such a location. However, it should be appreciated that exampleembodiments of the described system may or may not be configured todetect one or more of these described example scenarios.

In each of these examples, the at least one processor 102 may beconfigured (based on the application software component 103) todetermine information about the building based at least in part ontrends and correlations determined from the locations and/or movementsof portable devices via RF signals. For example, with respect to FIG. 2,an example scenario 200 is illustrated in which the processor isconfigured to determine trends regarding the rate at which such portabledevices typically pass given places in a building. Such trends may beused to determine choke points 202 in the flow of users that areindicative of a locked door, gate 204 or other security technology thatis responsible for the choke point. Choke points may be detected by theat least one processor based on the detection of portable devices 206that accumulate in an outside area 208 and slowly move through a firstlocation having a limited space (i.e., the choke point 202) into asecond location (e.g., a room 210). Thus, the detection of such chokepoints may correspond to a determination that the first location 202corresponds to a location in which access is restricted by a securitytechnology which slows the movement of people through the choke point.As illustrated in FIG. 2, the first location 202 may corresponds to anentrance to a room or building for example, that is configured with adoor 204 that automatically unlocks responsive to an authentication of auser's access card (or other token) via a card reader 212 (or other typeof token reader).

The system may be operative to automatically distinguish a choke pointthat represents a card accessed door/gate from a regular unlockeddoor/gate based on trends regarding the average flow rates through suchdoors/gates. For example, the system may be operative to determine thatportable devices in some locations tend to move through limited spatialranges, which likely represent a location of a door, gate, narrowhallway, or other narrow passageway. Further, the system may beoperative to determine which of such narrow passageways are controlledby a card accessed door/gate based on the flow rate of detected portabledevices through such passageways being substantially lower than flowrates through other passageways with the same or smaller spatial rangesin which portable devices tend to move therethrough. Thus, the systemmay be operative to distinguish a passageway corresponding to a lockeddoor (in which portable devices move at a relatively slow rate) from apassageway corresponding to a narrow hallway (in which portable devicesmove at a relatively faster rate).

In this example, the system may not have information as to whichportable device is or is not permitted to enter the room in which accessis determined to be restricted (e.g., via a card active door/gate).However, the described application software component may be configuredto detect when the rate of people (via the detection of their portabledevices) moved through the choke point at a rate which is substantiallyhigher than predetermined upper threshold determined by the processor asto which the portable devices of users have previously been able to passthrough the choke point having a card access door/gate. The detection ofsuch an occurrence may correspond to people “tailgating” (i.e., oneperson unlocking the door or gate with a single access card being readby a card reader, followed by one or more additional people quicklymoving through the open door or gate without using the card reader toread their access cards. Such additional people may not have accesscards and/or the correct permissions associated with their access cardsto unlock the door or gate. Thus, the detection of too many portabledevices passing through a previously determined choke point maycorrespond to a detection of unauthorized portable devices accessing anunauthorized location.

In this example, the at least one processor may be configured todetermine a first rate at which at least some of the portable devicespass a first location in the building in an amount of time based on theRF signals (e.g., BLE, WiFi signals). Here the first rate may correspondto (or be used to calculate) a determined upper threshold ofauthenticated users capable of passing through the entrance (e.g.,properly via reading an access card) in the amount of time. In addition,the processor may be configured to determine a second rate at whichfurther portable devices pass the first location in the building in theamount of time based on the RF signals. When the second rate is abovethe determined upper threshold, the processor may be configured todetermine that the further portable devices are at the unauthorizedlocation in the building and responsive thereto provide the describednotification.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example scenario 300 in which the processoris configured to determine trends based on determined positions andmovements of portable devices via RF signals (such as BLE or WiFisignals) and based on determined positions and movements of furtherdevices (with different types of signals).

In this example the at least one processor may be configured to trackpositions of a plurality of the further devices (e.g., access tokens,such as cards and badges) over time based on information acquired fromat least one further sensors in the building other than via BLE signals(or other than WiFi signals) for example, which information uniquelyidentifies each further device.

For example, the building 128 may include locked doors and/or gates 204that are unlocked via scanning a user's access card 302 via a contact orcontactless communication with a further sensor 212 (such as a cardreader) that does not involve BLE (or WiFi). Such access cards may beassociated with a user account maintained by a security system. Suchuser accounts may have one or more attributes that represent a type ofuser. For example, attributes associated with a user account mayindicate whether the person assigned the access card is an employee typeor an outside contractor type. Other examples of attributes may indicatewhether the person assigned the access card is associated with one ormore of a plurality of different security levels, clearance levels orany other type of attribute which can be used to group or classifypeople).

The processor 102 may be operative to access information from thesecurity system regarding when a user uses their access cards to unlockdoors as well as one or more attributes associated with the account ofthe user associated with the access card. The processor may beconfigured to determine correlations between respective portable devices142, 144 and respective further devices 302, 304 (e.g., cards) based ondeterminations that the respective portable devices and respectivefurther devices are detected at common positions and times in thebuilding (e.g., a portable device is adjacent card reader when an accesscard is read). The processor may also determine correlations betweendetermined attributes for a user account and positions and movements ofportable devices. The processor 102 may then determine that a portabledevice is positioned in the unauthorized location in the building basedat least in part on the determined correlations.

For example, with respect to as shown in FIG. 3, the processor 102 maybe operative to determine that portable devices 142, 144 are adjacentrespective cards 302, 304 when such cards are read by the various cardreaders in the building. In addition, the processor 102 may be operativeto determine that the cards 302 and 304 are associated with differentattributes. For example, the first card 302 may be associated with anemployee type attribute, whereas the second card 304 may be associatedwith an outside contractor attribute. In addition, as illustrated inview A of the building 128, the processor may be configured to determinethat a particular location (such as room 130) often has therein portabledevices correlated to further devices (such as an access card)associated with an employee attribute. Further, the processor may beconfigured to determine that such a particular location (such as room120) never (or rarely) appears to have portable devices detected thereinthat correlate to further devices (such as access cards) that areassociated with an outside contractor attribute.

With this determined information, the processor may be configured toissue a notification when a situation illustrated in view B is detected,where a portable device is detected in a location (e.g., room 130) inwhich the portable device is correlated to a further device (such as anaccess card) associated an particular attribute (e.g., an outsidecontractor), and where the processor has determined that prior detectedportable devices in that location were not previously correlated to (orare rarely correlated to) further devices (such as access cards)associated with this attribute (e.g., an outside contractor).

In this example, the detected unauthorized location (e.g., room 130) maycorrespond to a secure server room, for example, (or other restrictedarea) in which only employees with certain permissions are permitted,however the access door is such that an authorized user with a validaccess card could violate the rules and open the door and let theunauthorized person into the room. In another example of this scenario,the first attribute may correspond to a male student type and theunauthorized location may correspond to a female student only lockerroom. It should be appreciated that in this example scenario, theunauthorized location may or may not have a door or gate that isunlocked using an access card, but may simply have a sign that indicateswho is or who is not permitted in the location.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example scenario 400 in which the processoris configured to determine trends and correlations based on determinedpositions and movements of portable devices via RF signals (such as BLEsignals) and based on determined positions and movements of furtherdevices (with different types of signals). For example, as shown in viewA of FIG. 4, the processor may be configured to determine correlationsbetween respective portable devices 142, 144 and respective furtherdevices 302, 304 (e.g., access cards) based on determinations that therespective portable devices and respective further devices are detectedat common positions and times in the building (e.g., a portable deviceis adjacent a further sensor such as a card reader 212 when an accesscard is read by the card reader).

Subsequently as shown in view B of FIG. 4, the processor 102 may thendetermine that a portable device 144 is positioned in the unauthorizedlocation (e.g., room 130) in the building 128 based at least in part ona determination that the at least one portable device 144 has now becomecorrelated with a further device 302 that was previously correlated withat least one different portable device 142 (shown in view A) and the atleast one portable device 144 was not previously determined to have beenpositioned at the unauthorized location (e.g., room 130).

This example scenario may correspond to a situation where an employeeborrows or steals an access card of another user to enter anunauthorized location (e.g., an area in which their issued access carddoes not permit them entry). However, the person stealing or borrowingthe access card continues to wear their previously detected andcorrelated portable device (e.g., an activity tracker). Thus, thedescribed system is able to detect a discrepancy between portable deviceand further device that may indicate an unauthorized access to alocation.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example scenario 500 in which the processoris configured to determine trends and correlations based on determinedpositions and movements of portable devices via RF signals (such as BLEsignals). In this scenario the system may be configured to detect aperson that attempts to hide in a small area in a building during theday and then waits until night and after regular business hours to comeout of hiding and access an unauthorized location in the building.

For example, as illustrated in view A of the building in FIG. 5, theprocessor may be configured to determine a first place (e.g., smallspace 130) in the building at which portable devices are not previouslydetected. Such a first place may correspond to a hiding place in thebuilding such as behind or inside a piece of furniture. The processormay also be configured to determine a second place (e.g., room 132) inthe building where portable devices are detected during a first timeperiod (such as during working hours) and are not detected during asecond time period during the day (such as at night).

As illustrated in views B and C of the building in FIG. 5, the at leastone processor may be configured to determine that the at least oneportable device is positioned in the unauthorized location in thebuilding corresponding to the second place (e.g., room 132) when the atleast one processor detects that the at least one portable device hadremained stationary in the first place (e.g., small space 130) duringthe first time period (view B) and subsequently moves to the secondplace (e.g., larger room 132) during the second time period (view C).

In this example, the person may be attempting hide until the larger room132 is clear of people before carrying out some activity that may beunauthorized. Thus the larger room 132 may correspond to an authorizedlocation for the user (and the user's portable device) at least duringthe second time period (such as at night).

It should also be appreciated that in this example, the particularportable device may or may not be new to the system. Thus the portabledevice could be one that has been tracked for many days prior to theactivity, and/or be worn for the first time when detected in thisexample scenario.

In the example scenarios illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, the describedsystem may use BLE sensors in order to take advantage of the insightthat portable devices that use BLE (such as activity trackers) aretypically continuously worn by a user and thus may correlate better withthe detection of people at unauthorized locations than devices that areless personal (such as WiFi enabled tablet). In addition, the describedsceneries of detected portable devices in unauthorized locations may bebased on additional or alternative detections of trends andcorrelations. For example, the processor may be operative to detect ineach of these examples that the unauthorized access to a location occursin a time frame during the day at which portable devices are nottypically detected and/or are in which additional portable devices arenot currently being detected.

It should also be appreciated that portable devices may further includeadditional features which assist in tracking them via the describedsensors. For example, the portable devices may include applicationsthereon, which are responsive to Bluetooth signals from BLE beacons tocommunicate information to a server which may be used to further trackthe movements of the portable devices in a building. Such applicationsmay further enable notifications to be communicated to the portabledevice regarding the building, emergency information, and/or any otherinformation that may be useful to send the user while in the building.

It should also be appreciated that the described RF sensors (such as BLEsensors) may have a form factor that enables them to be readily mountedin spaced-apart relation across a building. For example, an exampleembodiment of an RF sensor may have a shape that can be inserted into acylindrical hole drilled in a wall. An installer may drill holes invarious places in drywall of a room wall and insert the RF sensors ineach hole. In some embodiments, the installer may cover the RFsensors/holes with a patching compound, mud, paint, or other covering.Such a portable device may be powered via a battery, wires to a powersource, solar cell, RF power harvesting device, and/or any other type ofelectrical power source. For example the sensor could have a solar cellthat forms a circular flange larger than the hole in the drywall thatprevents the portion of the RF sensor inserted into the hole fromfalling out of the hole inside wall. Also, as discussed previously, theat least one processor 102 may be configured to determine the generalrelative locations of such RF sensors overtime from RF signals (e.g.,BLE signals) wirelessly outputted by the RF sensors to the processor102. The RF sensor locations may be determined by the processor based oncorrelations regarding RF power levels and the unique identifiers formany different portable devices moving across the building over timethat are detected by the RF sensors.

In other examples, the RF sensors may be integrated into exit signs,lighting fixtures, building control modules (e.g., for temperature,lighting, and window shade control), furniture, and/or any otherstructure that forms and/or may be included in a building.

In addition, it should be appreciated that the information regarding theposition of portable devices in a building may be useful in emergencysituations. For example, because BLE type devices (activity trackers)tend to be worn all the time, such devices may be a more reliableindicator of the number of people in a building or remaining in abuilding after an evacuation during an emergency situation (fire,earthquake) compared to other types of portable devices. Other types ofportable devices which primarily use WiFi or classic Bluetoothcommunications, may be left behind when a user has left the buildingduring lunch or during an emergency, and thus may not reliably indicateif a user is still in a building.

Further, BLE type devices may more accurately reflect that the number ofpeople in a building is greater than expected (e.g., compared to cardreader scans). For example, in the tailgating example describedpreviously, additional people may be let in a building without havingtheir access cards being scanned, when another person enters thebuilding or opens a door from the inside. Such information about thenumber of people wearing BLE type devices may be useful for emergencyresponder (firefighters, EMS, police) when assessing whether people maystill be present in an evacuated building.

In addition, because BLE type devices may provide a unique identifier,such a unique identifier may be captured by the at least one processorand correlated with the same unique identifier previously stored in thedata store 108 in association with user information (e.g., humanresource data, medical records, student records, housing records). Sucha unique identifier, for example, may correspond to a MAC address of theportable device which is stored in the database in association with theusers' information when the person is hired by an employer, registersfor classes, or any other time.

During an emergency situation, the at least one processor may be capableof determining relevant information about individuals associated withportable devices that remain detected in a building that was attemptedto be fully evacuated. Such individuals could be unconscious, injuredand/or have a known medical condition stored in the data store 108(e.g., whether a person is blind, paraplegic, diabetic, epileptic) thatcould hinders them from evacuating). The at least one processor may becapable of determining the location in the building of a portabledevices that remains in the building and correlate the uniqueidentifiers of the portable devices to corresponding user records in thedata store 108. The location of the portable devices and associatedinformation about the users (such as their name, mobile phone numberand/or medical condition), may be communicated by the described system100 to an emergency service (such as a server) that is configured tocommunicate such received information regarding users to emergencyresponders.

With reference now to FIG. 6, various example methodologies areillustrated and described. While the methodologies are described asbeing a series of acts that are performed in a sequence, it is to beunderstood that the methodologies may not be limited by the order of thesequence. For instance, some acts may occur in a different order thanwhat is described herein. In addition, an act may occur concurrentlywith another act. Furthermore, in some instances, not all acts may berequired to implement a methodology described herein.

It is important to note that while the disclosure includes a descriptionin the context of a fully functional system and/or a series of acts,those skilled in the art will appreciate that at least portions of themechanism of the present disclosure and/or described acts are capable ofbeing distributed in the form of computer-executable instructionscontained within non-transitory machine-usable, computer-usable, orcomputer-readable medium in any of a variety of forms, and that thepresent disclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type ofinstruction or data bearing medium or storage medium utilized toactually carry out the distribution. Examples of non-transitory machineusable/readable or computer usable/readable mediums include: ROMs,EPROMs, magnetic tape, floppy disks, hard disk drives, SSDs, flashmemory, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray disks. The computer-executableinstructions may include a routine, a sub-routine, programs,applications, modules, libraries, a thread of execution, and/or thelike. Still further, results of acts of the methodologies may be storedin a computer-readable medium, displayed on a display device, and/or thelike.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a methodology 600 is illustrated thatfacilitates passive building information discovery. The method may startat 602 and the methodology may include several acts carried out throughoperation of at least one processor.

These acts may include an act 604 of receiving communications from aplurality of radio-frequency (RF) sensors mounted in spaced-apartrelation across a building, which communications include informationdetected by the RF sensors from RF signals from a plurality of portabledevices that uniquely identify each portable device. In addition, themethodology may include an act 606 of tracking positions in the buildingof the portable devices over time, based on the received communications.Further, the methodology may include an act 608 of determiningcharacteristics of the building including locations in the buildingwhere at least some of the portable device are unauthorized, based onthe tracked positions of the portable devices. Also, the methodology mayinclude an act 610 of determining that at least one of the portabledevices is detected via a communication from at least one of the RFsensors at a determined unauthorized location in the building. Inaddition, the methodology may include an act 612 of providing at leastone notification that indicates that the at least one portable devicewas detected at the unauthorized location. At 614 the methodology mayend.

It should be appreciated that the methodology 600 may include other actsand features discussed previously with respect to the processing system100. For example, (as discussed previously) the RF sensors involved inthis described methodology may be BLE sensors and the RF signals may beBLE signals. However, in other examples the methodology may be carriedwith respect to alternative or additional types of RF signals andsensors such as WiFi sensors/signals, other forms of Bluetoothsensors/signals, and/or any other types of sensors capable of detectingany other type of RF signals outputted by portable devices.

In addition the described methodology 600 may include an act ofproviding the at least one notification to at least one of an alarmsystem, a display screen, a data base, a second at least one processor,or any combination thereof.

Further, the methodology may include addition acts such as determining:a first rate at which at least some of the portable devices pass a firstlocation in the building in an amount of time based on the BLE signals;determining a second rate at which further portable devices pass thefirst location in the building in the amount of time based on the BLEsignals; and determining that the further portable devices are at theunauthorized location in the building and responsive thereto provide theat least one notification, based on the second rate being higher thanthe first rate.

In addition, in some example embodiments of this described methodology,the first location may correspond to an entrance to a room that isconfigured with a door that automatically unlocks responsive to anauthentication of a user. Also, the first rate may correspond to anupper threshold of authenticated users capable of passing through theentrance in the amount of time.

Also, the methodology may include additional acts such as: trackingpositions of a plurality of further devices over time based oninformation acquired from at least one further sensors in the buildingother than via BLE signals, which information uniquely identifies eachfurther device; and determining correlations between respective portabledevices and respective further devices based on determinations that therespective portable devices and respective further devices are detectedat common positions and times in the building. In this example, the actof determining that the at least one portable device is positioned inthe unauthorized location in the building may be based at least in parton the determined correlations.

In this described example, the at least one further sensor maycorrespond to a card reader and the further devices may correspond toidentification cards. Also, determining that the at least one portabledevice is positioned in the unauthorized location in the building may bebased at least in part on: determining that the at least one portabledevice is correlated to a further device associated with at least onefirst attribute; and determining that prior detected portable devices inthe unauthorized location were not previously correlated to furtherdevices associated with the at least one first attribute.

In another example, the at least one further sensor may correspond to acard reader, the further devices may correspond to identification cards,and the card reader may be configured to unlock a door to theunauthorized location in the building. In addition the methodology mayinclude determining that the at least one portable device has becomecorrelated with a further device that was previously correlated with atleast one different portable device and the at least one portable devicewas not previously determined to have been positioned at theunauthorized location.

Example embodiments of the methodology 600 may also include act such as:determining a first place in the building at which portable devices arenot previously detected; determining a second place in the buildingwhere portable devices are detected during a first time period and arenot detected during a second time period during the day; and determiningthat the at least one portable device is positioned in the unauthorizedlocation in the building corresponding to the second place when the atleast one processor detects that the at least one portable deviceremains stationary in the first place during the first time period andmoves to the second place during the second time period.

As discussed previously, the at least one portable device may include adisplay screen and a band or strap configured to mount the portabledevice to a wrist of a user. Also, the at least one portable device mayinclude a media access control (MAC) address and the detectedinformation that uniquely identifies the at least one portable devicemay include the MAC address. In addition the methodology may furtherinclude the acts of: determining information about the user of the atleast one portable device from at least one data store based on the MACaddress associated with the at least one portable device; andcommunicating the determined information about the user to an emergencyresponder.

As discussed previously, acts associated with these methodologies (otherthan any described manual acts) may be carried out by one or moreprocessors. Such processor(s) may be included in one or more dataprocessing systems, for example, that execute software components (suchas the described application software component) operative to causethese acts to be carried out by the one or more processors. In anexample embodiment, such software components may comprisecomputer-executable instructions corresponding to a routine, asub-routine, programs, applications, modules, libraries, a thread ofexecution, and/or the like. Further, it should be appreciated thatsoftware components may be written in and/or produced by softwareenvironments/languages/frameworks such as Java, JavaScript, Python, C,C#, C++ or any other software tool capable of producing components andgraphical user interfaces configured to carry out the acts and featuresdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system 700 (alsoreferred to as a computer system) in which an embodiment can beimplemented, for example, as a portion of a building system, and/orother system operatively configured by software or otherwise to performthe processes as described herein. The data processing system depictedincludes at least one processor 702 (e.g., a CPU) (which may correspondto the at least one processor 102) that may be connected to one or morebridges/controllers/buses 704 (e.g., a north bridge, a south bridge).One of the buses 704, for example, may include one or more I/O busessuch as a PCI Express bus. Also connected to various buses in thedepicted example may include a main memory 706 (RAM) and a graphicscontroller 708. The graphics controller 708 may be connected to one ormore display devices 710. It should also be noted that in someembodiments one or more controllers (e.g., graphics, south bridge) maybe integrated with the CPU (on the same chip or die). Examples of CPUarchitectures include IA-32, x86-64, and ARM processor architectures.

Other peripherals connected to one or more buses may includecommunication controllers 712 (Ethernet controllers, WiFi controllers,cellular controllers) operative to connect to a local area network(LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), a cellular network, and/or other wiredor wireless networks 714 or communication equipment.

Further components connected to various busses may include one or moreI/O controllers 716 such as USB controllers, Bluetooth controllers,and/or dedicated audio controllers (connected to speakers and/ormicrophones). It should also be appreciated that various peripherals maybe connected to the I/O controller(s) (via various ports andconnections) including input devices 718 (e.g., keyboard, mouse,pointer, touch screen, touch pad, drawing tablet, trackball, buttons,keypad, game controller, gamepad, camera, microphone, scanners, motionsensing devices that capture motion gestures), output devices 720 (e.g.,printers, speakers) or any other type of device that is operative toprovide inputs to or receive outputs from the data processing system.Also, it should be appreciated that many devices referred to as inputdevices or output devices may both provide inputs and receive outputs ofcommunications with the data processing system. For example, theprocessor 702 may be integrated into a housing (such as a tablet) thatincludes a touch screen that serves as both an input and display device.Further, it should be appreciated that some input devices (such as alaptop) may include a plurality of different types of input devices(e.g., touch screen, touch pad, and keyboard). Also, it should beappreciated that other peripheral hardware 722 connected to the I/Ocontrollers 716 may include any type of device, machine, or componentthat is configured to communicate with a data processing system.

Additional components connected to various busses may include one ormore storage controllers 724 (e.g., SATA). A storage controller may beconnected to a storage device 726 such as one or more storage drivesand/or any associated removable media, which can be any suitablenon-transitory machine usable or machine readable storage medium.Examples, include nonvolatile devices, volatile devices, read onlydevices, writable devices, ROMs, EPROMs, magnetic tape storage, floppydisk drives, hard disk drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), flash memory,optical disk drives (CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray), and other known optical,electrical, or magnetic storage devices drives and/or computer media.Also in some examples, a storage device such as an SSD may be connecteddirectly to an I/O bus 704 such as a PCI Express bus.

A data processing system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may include an operating system 728, software/firmware 730,and data stores 732 (that may be stored on a storage device 726 and/orthe memory 706). Such an operating system may employ a command lineinterface (CLI) shell and/or a graphical user interface (GUI) shell. TheGUI shell permits multiple display windows to be presented in thegraphical user interface simultaneously, with each display windowproviding an interface to a different application or to a differentinstance of the same application. A cursor or pointer in the graphicaluser interface may be manipulated by a user through a pointing devicesuch as a mouse or touch screen. The position of the cursor/pointer maybe changed and/or an event, such as clicking a mouse button or touchinga touch screen, may be generated to actuate a desired response. Examplesof operating systems that may be used in a data processing system mayinclude Microsoft Windows, Linux, UNIX, iOS, and Android operatingsystems. Also, examples of data stores include data files, data tables,relational database (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server), databaseservers, or any other structure and/or device that is capable of storingdata, which is retrievable by a processor.

The communication controllers 712 may be connected to the network 714(not a part of data processing system 700), which can be any public orprivate data processing system network or combination of networks, asknown to those of skill in the art, including the Internet. Dataprocessing system 700 can communicate over the network 714 with one ormore other data processing systems such as a server 734 (also not partof the data processing system 700). However, an alternative dataprocessing system may correspond to a plurality of data processingsystems implemented as part of a distributed system in which processorsassociated with several data processing systems may be in communicationby way of one or more network connections and may collectively performtasks described as being performed by a single data processing system.Thus, it is to be understood that when referring to a data processingsystem, such a system may be implemented across several data processingsystems organized in a distributed system in communication with eachother via a network.

Further, the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereofthat controls at least one operation, whether such a device isimplemented in hardware, firmware, software or some combination of atleast two of the same. It should be noted that the functionalityassociated with any particular controller may be centralized ordistributed, whether locally or remotely.

In addition, it should be appreciated that data processing systems maybe implemented as virtual machines in a virtual machine architecture orcloud environment. For example, the processor 702 and associatedcomponents may correspond to a virtual machine executing in a virtualmachine environment of one or more servers. Examples of virtual machinearchitectures include VMware ESCi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Xen, and KVM.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardwaredepicted for the data processing system may vary for particularimplementations. For example, the data processing system 700 in thisexample may correspond to a computer, workstation, server, PC, notebookcomputer, tablet, mobile phone, and/or any other type ofapparatus/system that is operative to process data and carry outfunctionality and features described herein associated with theoperation of a data processing system, computer, processor, and/or acontroller discussed herein. The depicted example is provided for thepurpose of explanation only and is not meant to imply architecturallimitations with respect to the present disclosure.

Also, it should be noted that the processor described herein may belocated in a server that is remote from the display and input devicesdescribed herein. In such an example, the described display device andinput device may be included in a client device that communicates withthe server (and/or a virtual machine executing on the server) through awired or wireless network (which may include the Internet). In someembodiments, such a client device, for example, may execute a remotedesktop application or may correspond to a portal device that carriesout a remote desktop protocol with the server in order to send inputsfrom an input device to the server and receive visual information fromthe server to display through a display device. Examples of such remotedesktop protocols include Teradici's PCoIP, Microsoft's RDP, and the RFBprotocol. In such examples, the processor described herein maycorrespond to a virtual processor of a virtual machine executing in aphysical processor of the server.

As used herein, the terms “component” and “system” are intended toencompass hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.Thus, for example, a system or component may be a process, a processexecuting on a processor, or a processor. Additionally, a component orsystem may be localized on a single device or distributed across severaldevices.

Also, as used herein a processor corresponds to any electronic devicethat is configured via hardware circuits, software, and/or firmware toprocess data. For example, processors described herein may correspond toone or more (or a combination) of a microprocessor, CPU, FPGA, ASIC, orany other integrated circuit (IC) or other type of circuit that iscapable of processing data in a data processing system, which may havethe form of a controller board, computer, server, mobile phone, and/orany other type of electronic device.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that, for simplicity andclarity, the full structure and operation of all data processing systemssuitable for use with the present disclosure is not being depicted ordescribed herein. Instead, only so much of a data processing system asis unique to the present disclosure or necessary for an understanding ofthe present disclosure is depicted and described. The remainder of theconstruction and operation of data processing system 700 may conform toany of the various current implementations and practices known in theart.

Also, it should be understood that the words or phrases used hereinshould be construed broadly, unless expressly limited in some examples.For example, the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivativesthereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The singular forms “a”, “an”and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. The term “or” is inclusive,meaning and/or, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Thephrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well asderivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within,interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with,couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave,juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a propertyof, or the like.

Also, although the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and so forth may beused herein to describe various elements, functions, or acts, theseelements, functions, or acts should not be limited by these terms.Rather these numeral adjectives are used to distinguish differentelements, functions or acts from each other. For example, a firstelement, function, or act could be termed a second element, function, oract, and, similarly, a second element, function, or act could be termeda first element, function, or act, without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

In addition, phrases such as “processor is configured to” carry out oneor more functions or processes, may mean the processor is operativelyconfigured to or operably configured to carry out the functions orprocesses via software, firmware, and/or wired circuits. For example, aprocessor that is configured to carry out a function/process maycorrespond to a processor that is executing the software/firmware, whichis programmed to cause the processor to carry out the function/processand/or may correspond to a processor that has the software/firmware in amemory or storage device that is available to be executed by theprocessor to carry out the function/process. It should also be notedthat a processor that is “configured to” carry out one or more functionsor processes, may also correspond to a processor circuit particularlyfabricated or “wired” to carry out the functions or processes (e.g., anASIC or FPGA design). Further the phrase “at least one” before anelement (e.g., a processor) that is configured to carry out more thanone function may correspond to one or more elements (e.g., processors)that each carry out the functions and may also correspond to two or moreof the elements (e.g., processors) that respectively carry out differentones of the one or more different functions.

In addition, the term “adjacent to” may mean: that an element isrelatively near to but not in contact with a further element; or thatthe element is in contact with the further portion, unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has beendescribed in detail, those skilled in the art will understand thatvarious changes, substitutions, variations, and improvements disclosedherein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure in its broadest form.

None of the description in the present application should be read asimplying that any particular element, step, act, or function is anessential element, which must be included in the claim scope: the scopeof patented subject matter is defined only by the allowed claims.Moreover, none of these claims are intended to invoke a means plusfunction claim construction unless the exact words “means for” arefollowed by a participle.

1. A system for passive building information discovery comprising: atleast one processor configured to: receive communications from aplurality of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted in spaced-apartrelation across a building, which communications include informationdetected by the BLE sensors from BLE signals from a plurality ofportable devices that uniquely identify each portable device; trackpositions in the building of the portable devices over time based on thereceived communications; based on the tracked positions, determine afirst place in the building at which portable devices are not previouslydetected; based on the tracked positions, determine a second place inthe building where portable devices are detected during a first timeperiod and are not detected during a second time period during the day;determine when at least one of the portable devices is positioned in anunauthorized location in the building corresponding to the second placewhen the at least one processor detects that the at least one portabledevice remains stationary in the first place during the first timeperiod and moves to the second place during the second time period, andresponsive thereto provide at least one notification regarding thedetermination about the unauthorized location.
 2. The system accordingto claim 1, further comprising the BLE sensors mounted in spaced-apartrelation in the building in communication with the at least oneprocessor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to providethe at least one notification to at least one of an alarm system, adisplay screen, a data base, a second at least one processor, or anycombination thereof.
 3. A system for passive building informationdiscovery comprising: at least one processor configured to: receivecommunications from a plurality of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensorsmounted in spaced-apart relation across a building, which communicationsinclude information detected by the BLE sensors from BLE signals from aplurality of portable devices that uniquely identify each portabledevice; track positions in the building of the portable devices overtime based on the received communications; determine a first ratecorresponding to how many of at least some of the portable devices passa first location in the building in an amount of time based on the BLEsignals; determine a second rate corresponding to how many of further ofthe portable devices pass the first location in the building in theamount of time based on the BLE signals; determine that the furtherportable devices are positioned in an unauthorized location in thebuilding based at least in part on the second rate being higher than thefirst rate, and responsive thereto provide at least one notificationregarding the determination about the unauthorized location.
 4. Thesystem according to claim 3, wherein the first location corresponds toan entrance to a room that is configured with a door that automaticallyunlocks responsive to an authentication of a user, whereby the firstrate corresponds to an upper threshold of authenticated users capable ofpassing through the entrance in the amount of time.
 5. A system forpassive building information discovery comprising: at least oneprocessor configured to: receive communications from a plurality ofBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted in spaced-apart relationacross a building, which communications include information detected bythe BLE sensors from BLE signals from a plurality of portable devicesthat uniquely identify each portable device; track positions in thebuilding of the portable devices over time based on the receivedcommunications; track positions of a plurality of further devices overtime based on information acquired from at least one further sensor inthe building other than via BLE signals, which information uniquelyidentifies each further device; determine correlations betweenrespective portable devices and respective further devices based ondeterminations that the respective portable devices and respectivefurther devices are detected at common positions and times in thebuilding; and determine when at least one of the portable devices ispositioned in an unauthorized location in the building based at least inpart on the determined correlations, and responsive thereto provide atleast one notification regarding the determination about theunauthorized location.
 6. The system according to claim 5, wherein theat least one processor is configured to determine that the at least oneportable device is positioned in the unauthorized location in thebuilding based at least in part on a determination that the at least oneportable device is correlated to a further device associated with atleast one first attribute, and based on a determination that priordetected portable devices in the unauthorized location were notpreviously correlated to further devices associated with the at leastone first attribute.
 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the atleast one further sensor corresponds to a card reader, wherein thefurther devices correspond to identification cards.
 8. The systemaccording to claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto determine that the at least one portable device is positioned in theunauthorized location in the building based at least in part on adetermination that the at least one portable device has becomecorrelated with a further device that was previously correlated with atleast one different portable device and the at least one portable devicewas not previously determined to have been positioned at theunauthorized location.
 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein theat least one further sensor corresponds to a card reader, wherein thefurther devices correspond to identification cards, wherein the cardreader is configured to unlock a door to the unauthorized location inthe building.
 10. The system according to claim 5, further comprisingthe BLE sensors mounted in spaced-apart relation in the building incommunication with the at least one processor, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to provide the at least one notification to atleast one of an alarm system, a display screen, a data base, a second atleast one processor, or any combination thereof.
 11. A method forpassive building information discovery comprising: through operation ofat least one processor: receiving communications from a plurality ofBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted in spaced-apart relationacross a building, which communications include information detected bythe BLE sensors from BLE signals from a plurality of portable devicesthat uniquely identify each portable device; tracking positions in thebuilding of the portable devices over time based on the receivedcommunications; based on the tracked positions, determining a firstplace in the building at which portable devices are not previouslydetected; based on the tracked positions, determining a second place inthe building where portable devices are detected during a first timeperiod and are not detected during a second time period during the day;detecting that at last one of the portable devices remains stationary inthe first place during the first time period and moves to the secondplace during the second time period and responsive thereto determiningthat the at least one portable device is positioned in an unauthorizedlocation in the building corresponding to the second place; andproviding at least one notification regarding the determination aboutthe unauthorized location.
 12. A non-transitory computer readable mediumencoded with executable instructions that when executed, cause at leastone processor to carry out a method according to claim
 13. 13. A methodfor passive building information discovery comprising: through operationof at least one processor: receiving communications from a plurality ofBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted in spaced-apart relationacross a building, which communications include information detected bythe BLE sensors from BLE signals from a plurality of portable devicesthat uniquely identify each portable device; tracking positions in thebuilding of the portable devices over time based on the receivedcommunications; determining a first rate corresponding to how many of atleast some of the portable devices pass a first location in the buildingin an amount of time based on the BLE signals; determining a second ratecorresponding to how many of further of the portable devices pass thefirst location in the building in the amount of time based on the BLEsignals; determining that the further portable devices are positioned inan unauthorized location in the building based on the second rate beinghigher than the first rate; and providing at least one notificationregarding the determination about the unauthorized location.
 14. Themethod according to claim 13, wherein the first location corresponds toan entrance to a room that is configured with a door that automaticallyunlocks responsive to an authentication of a user, whereby the firstrate corresponds to an upper threshold of authenticated users capable ofpassing through the entrance in the amount of time.
 15. A method forpassive building information discovery comprising: through operation ofthe at least one processor: receiving communications from a plurality ofBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted in spaced-apart relationacross a building, which communications include information detected bythe BLE sensors from BLE signals from a plurality of portable devicesthat uniquely identify each portable device; tracking positions in thebuilding of the portable devices over time based on the receivedcommunications; tracking positions of a plurality of further devicesover time based on information acquired from at least one further sensorin the building other than via BLE signals, which information uniquelyidentifies each further device; determining correlations betweenrespective portable devices and respective further devices based ondeterminations that the respective portable devices and respectivefurther devices are detected at common positions and times in thebuilding; determining that at least one of the portable devices ispositioned in an unauthorized location in the building based at least inpart on the determined correlations; and providing at least onenotification regarding the determination about the unauthorizedlocation.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least onefurther sensor corresponds to a card reader, wherein the further devicescorrespond to identification cards, wherein determining that the atleast one portable device is positioned in the unauthorized location inthe building is based at least in part on: determining that the at leastone portable device is correlated to a further device associated with atleast one first attribute; and determining that prior detected portabledevices in the unauthorized location were not previously correlated tofurther devices associated with the at least one first attribute. 17.The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least one furthersensor corresponds to a card reader, wherein the further devicescorrespond to identification cards, wherein the card reader isconfigured to unlock a door to the unauthorized location in thebuilding, wherein determining that the at least one portable device ispositioned in the unauthorized location in the building based at leastin part on: determining that the at least one portable device has becomecorrelated with a further device that was previously correlated with atleast one different portable device and the at least one portable devicewas not previously determined to have been positioned at theunauthorized location.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable mediumencoded with executable instructions that when executed, cause at leastone processor to carry out a method according to claim
 15. 19. Themethod according to claim 15, wherein the at least one portable deviceincludes a display screen and a strap or band configured to mount theportable device to a wrist of a user, wherein the at least one portabledevice includes a media access control (MAC) address, wherein thedetected information that uniquely identifies the at least one portabledevice includes the MAC address, further comprising through operation ofthe at least one processor: determining information about the user ofthe at least one portable device from at least one data store based onthe MAC address associated with the at least one portable device; andcommunicating the determined information about the user in the at leastone notification.
 20. A non-transitory computer readable medium encodedwith executable instructions that when executed, cause at least oneprocessor to carry out a method comprising: receiving communicationsfrom a plurality of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors mounted inspaced-apart relation across a building, which communications includeinformation detected by the BLE sensors from BLE signals from aplurality of portable devices that uniquely identify each portabledevice; tracking positions in the building of the portable devices overtime based on the received communications; based on the trackedpositions, determining a first place in the building at which portabledevices are not previously detected; based on the tracked positions,determining a second place in the building where portable devices aredetected during a first time period and are not detected during a secondtime period during the day; detecting that at least one of the portabledevices remains stationary in the first place during the first timeperiod and moves to the second place during the second time period andresponsive thereto determining that the at least one portable device ispositioned in an unauthorized location in the building corresponding tothe second place; and providing at least one notification regarding thedetermination about the unauthorized location.